The only way to ventilate the Frontier Regional School district administration building in Whately is the old-fashioned way: opening up windows.
A recent assessment of air quality in the building found carbon dioxide levels above recommended levels in the after-school room and another basement room, carpeting over 15 to 20 years old — well beyond the recommended life span of 11 years — furnace exhaust possibly entering rooms occupied by staff and birds nesting inside the building’s exhaust system.
The review was done by the state’s Executive Office of Health and Human Services.
During Monday’s Conway Select Board meeting, member Robert Baker said that if the poor air quality is a medical hazard, the building should not be occupied.
So far, the poor air quality has had adverse affects on staff members who have reported itching and burning eyes, sore throats, headaches and sinus congestion.
In a survey, 57 percent of staff members said they had irritated skin; another 57 percent also had headaches; and 71 percent reported having a stuffy or runny nose or a sinus congestion. All of them said they had a sore, hoarse or dry throat.
“Potential bird waste throughout the system. Lots of odors in the bathroom,” said Conway Town Administrator Thomas Hutcheson during the meeting. “This is not something that we can wait for.”
Among the recommended repairs the report suggested were that carbon monoxide detectors be installed on each occupied floor, bird screens put on all ventilation shafts, and carpeting in some areas be removed.
Hutcheson said repairs to improve air quality will cost at least $100,000 to $200,000. The building already needs other improvements as well, such as an elevator for handicapped accessibility .
“It might make sense to fold it into a larger contract that could be done by a single contractor,” said Hutcheson, adding that renovating the entire building could be about $450,000.
Right now, Hutcheson said the Conway Grammar School Committee is taking the lead on the issue. He also said there will probably be a four-town public meeting in the coming weeks to decide on a course of action.